


A Walk in the Flower Fields

by timmy_cardiac



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Love Triangle, M/M, Sad times, hyacinthus dies yesyes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 17:05:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15733734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timmy_cardiac/pseuds/timmy_cardiac
Summary: Zephyros had never meant to hurt anyone-he certainly never wanted the prince to die, or Apollo to suffer.~or Hyacinthus’ death from Zephyros’ perspective





	A Walk in the Flower Fields

My insurmountable anger quickly ebbed to horror the moment I watched the steel discus smash in the head of the young Spartan prince, Hyacinthus. His body, at first standing still and bold, jerked backwards. His head twisted to the side gruesomely, much farther than it was meant to. There was a spray of bright red, then his body laid dormant in the grass.  
I gagged and sobbed, covering my mouth with both hands. I could faintly hear the god Apollo’s shriek of agony over the buzzing in my ears. I couldn’t have been more stunned by my actions. The young prince, who barely seventeen years old, and I had murdered him. Worse still, the weapon I had used to kill him was one wielded by Apollo himself-a harmless discus, thrown with good intent.  
What kind of horrible god was I? I half expected the Furies themselves to rise from the hillside and drag me down to Tartarus, where I would pay for my crimes. Instead, my wings froze in midair and, with nothing to propel myself, I plummeted toward the ground. I was not high enough in the air for the fast-approaching ground to kill me (never mind the fact that I was a minor god and death was impossible for me).  
As the wind chapped my face I laughed in insanity, eagerly awaiting the painful slap of the ground against my body. But the impact never came. Strong arms wrapped around my waist, holding me up.  
Though he offered me safety, I fought against Eros’s hold. I had no idea where I was trying to go. To Hyacinthus, to see the mess I had created? Maybe, even with the knowledge that Apollo would make the rest of my immortality as torturous as possible .  
I’m not sure if I would be able to break free from Eros’s arms at my full strength, but at that moment, when I was physically weakened by my emotional pain, I couldn’t manage it. I stopped trying to fight Eros and fell back against him, weeping loudly. He held me tighter and stroked my hair gently, all the while whispering, “I’ll keep you safe now.”  
I could tell that he was using his magic to sedate me with a feeling of love and security, but it felt strangely false and artificial, like a copy of the real thing.  
Before I drifted away there was a soft voice in the back of my head. It reminded me, Eros was the one that made me fall in love with Hyacinthus to begin with. Why should I trust him?  
But before I was able to ponder on that, I was deep asleep.  
————————————————  
I woke up in a large bed, covered in fluffy pillows and a huge duvet. There was a canopy over my head that reminded me of the bars on a infant’s cradle-provided for safety. I sat up and looked around the room. It was fairly large, with huge windows in the ceiling to let in sunshine. Around the room were sofas and small tables. Everything was a flawless shade of white, so bright it almost hurt to look at. Each windowsill and table had at least one vase of brightly colored fresh flowers, all of them looking newly picked, save for one vase of small orange blooms on a nightstand near the bedroom doors that looked a bit withered.  
Without warning the double doors burst open and a woman in a white maid’s outfit skittered in, a new vase of flowers clutches tightly in her hand, most likely to replace the wilted orange ones.  
She glanced over at me, then did a double take and I watched her eyes widen as she realized that I was not the person she was expecting.  
The maid let out a little gasp and curtsied deeply. “My apologies,” she said frantically. “I wasn’t aware that Lord Eros has a... visitor staying.” It sounded like she was about to say something other than ‘visitor’ but thought better of it.  
“I’ll be in and out fast, I promise,” she said before switching the orange flowers for the ones in her hand. They were unlike anything I had ever seen: purple bulbs sprouting around long green stalks. They looked frilly and cheerful. The hue of violet was so extraordinary, I felt almost unworthy to look upon it.  
It was such a special color, I knew that I had never seen before in nature. But after looking for a second longer, I realized the one place I had seen it before.  
I tried my hardest not to get sick all over Eros’s white sheets as I asked the maid, “What kind of flowers are those?”  
The maid spun around in the doorway and answered in surprise, “A new kind. They only started blooming across Sparta yesterday. Apparently they were created by the god Apollo.” She grabbed the door handle, then turned around to say, “Hyacinths.”  
Once the door clicked shut behind her I jumped up and paced around the room, feeling completely hollow inside. I glanced over at the vase of purple flowers on the nightstand-hyacinths. Beautiful flowers, but a hideous reminder of my crime.  
Overcome by my shame, I picked up the vase and opened a set of balcony doors. I threw the hyacinths over the railing and watched as they plummeted, then disappeared into the clouds below the floating palace. I sank to my knees and coached myself to breathe again. Once the pounding in my head subsided, I heard a sound echoing through the palace: yelling.  
I exited Eros’s bedroom and walked through the white marble corridors, my wings fluttering nervously behind me. At last I found the source of the sound.  
In a large sitting room stood Eros and Apollo, the latter with his bow and a full quiver over his shoulder. He looked dreadfully tired, with smears of dried blood on his face and chiton. They were arguing very loudly, but Apollo quieted when he saw me enter.  
“You,” he hissed, stepping toward me. He clutched his bow so tightly it looked likely to snap.  
Before he could reach me or even say another word Eros materialized in front of me, blocking Apollo from hurting me. “Favonius is under my protection now,” Eros said. “You can’t lay a finger on him as long as I have claimed him.”  
I pushed past Eros and reached a shaking hand towards Apollo. “Please,” I whispered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-“ The words caught in my throat. Kill him. I didn’t mean to kill him.  
Apollo’s golden eyes flashed with rage. “It doesn’t matter what you meant to do. All that matters is you did it anyway. I told you to stay away from him. And now...” he trailed off as he spotted another vase of red hyacinths on a windowsill. He frowned and the flowers darkened to black and crumbled to ash.  
“I think you had better leave,” Eros said firmly, putting a restraining hand on my shoulder.  
Apollo looked between the two of us, then sniffed haughtily. “You know, the cherub himself is the only reason you felt compelled to come between me and my love.”  
This made me unexplainably angry, though I knew it was true. Against my better judgement, I fired back, “And what was it again that made you crazy for that dryad? So crazy, in fact, that she committed suicide so she would finally be able to get away from you?”  
Apollo somehow managed to look even more shattered. I had really hit hard with that last comment, and I had liked hurting him. What was wrong with me?  
“Someday, Favonius, you’ll find yourself in a very weak spot. And when that happens, I intend to destroy you.”  
Apollo could never kill me-nobody could-but the kind of destruction that was waiting for me would surely be much worse than death.  
With one last pointed glare at me, the god of music vanished in a cloud of gold dust.  
I took several shallow shuddering breaths, my lungs feeling crushed. Eros held me from behind and hushed my soon-to-be crying.  
“It really isn’t your fault,” he told me.  
It really very much was. But I was too tired to argue. I half-listened as Eros talked. Now that he had claimed me, I would be protected against most dangers. I didn’t have to worry about Apollo seeking revenge.  
Eros tilted my chin up and made me look at him. He was unspeakably beautiful, almost to the point where it hurt to gaze upon him. “You’re staying with me now, Favonius. Okay? You can live here now.” He smiled kindly and bent down to kiss the top of my head.  
Eros was using his magic to drug me again. It made me feel disoriented and dizzy. I thought I might learn to like it, as long as it made me forget about Hyacinthus.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m considering making more chapters just about Zephyros living with Eros but idk 
> 
> I appreciate constructive criticism or any tips :D


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